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TRADITION UNVEILED 



AN EXPOSITION OF THE PRETENSIONS 
AND TENDENCY 



AUTHORITATIVE TEACHING IN THE CHURCH, 



REV. BADEN POWELL, M.A., F.R.S., &c., 

OF ORIEL COLLEGE, 
SAnL IAN PROFESSOR OF GEOMETRT, OXFORD. 



FROM THE LONDON EDITION. 



V 
r 



PHILADELPHIA : 

HOOKER & AGNEW. 
1841. 






L. R. BAII.EY, Pn INTER 5 26 NORTH FIFTH STREET, 



I 



or 



ARGUMENT 



1. Introductory remarks. 2. Prevalence of a system of au- 
thoritative tradition in the Church of England at the present day. 
3. Its pretensions and tendency important to be examined. 4. Not 
popish. 5. Nor new. 6. Its general character attractive: and 
influence povs^erful. 7. Grounded in some measure on admitted 
principles. Connexion v^ith learning. 8. Opposed to some com- 
mon Protestant errors. 9. Admitted absence of creeds, &c. in 
the New Testament. 10. Futile deductions from Scripture. 
11. Church authority not proved from Scripture. 12. Authori- 
tative teaching: real question as to its nature and origin, 
13. Sketch of traditional system. 14. The Fathers. 15. Gene- 
ral consent. 16. Tradition superadded to Scripture, and inde- 
pendant of it. 17. Same authority in each. 18. Both equally 
Divine revelation. 19. Hence both equally require the same evi- 
dence. 20. Evidence of miracles in the Church. 21. No dis- 
tinctive evidence between Scriptural and traditional revelation. 
22. Alternative of consequences. 23. Declared opinions of tradi- 
tionists. Equivalent to a rejection of the evidence of miracles. 
24. Practical influence of the system. Mysticism allied to ra- 
tionalism. 25. Appeal to the schools of ancient philosophy: 
rejection of reason. Destruction of all rational belief. 26. Church 
authority infallible: alternative, unlimited private judgment. 27. 
Practical consequences: the principle of persecution. 28. Grounds 
of orthodox interpretation. 29. Pretensions of the primitive 
church. 30. Causes of the prevalence of Church authority and 
its institutions. 31. Application of these principles in the present 
times. 32. Hostility of the traditionists towards science. 33. Con- 
clusion: importance and real bearing of the question. Necessity 
for evidence of revelation. 34. Authenticity of the New Testa- 
ment. Evidence addressed to reason. 35. Legitimate deference 
to authority. Use of formularies and Church institutions. 36. 
Formalism and superstition. 37. Truth and conviction. Exercise 
of private judgment. 



TRADITION UNVEILED 

SfC. 



{1.) Amid the innumerable matters of stirring interest 
which are continually soliciting public attention in the 
present times, amid the excitement of political contests, 
of literary discussion, of scientific discovery, and the 
more popular and practical subjects of religious contro- 
versy — it is not a little remarkable that such a topic 
as is supplied by the abstract theological speculations, 
the devotional practices, and ecclesiastical schemes of 
a few secluded academics, should be able to acquire 
general notoriety, and inspire an interest not merely 
within the precincts of their colleges and the limited 
circle of their brother theologians, but among the great 
body of the clergy and even of the laity, throughout 
the country. 

Yet such an instance is brought before us at the 
present time. A certain body of theological opinions 
has been put forth and advocated by the combined 
efforts of a few individuals of some reputation in the 
university of Oxford; opinions which, from their nature, 
might appear ill calculated to extend themselves much 
beyond that particular circle in which they originated. 
Yet contrary to all that might have been anticipated, 
we find that the subject has unquestionably, in one 
shape or another, attracted no inconsiderable degree of 
public attention. There are few (at least of those who 



6 TRADITION UNVEILED. 

take any iiiterest in what is passing around them in 
the world of theological, or even political discussion) 
who have not heard something of these questions. 
Those periodicals which are chiefly devoted to reli- 
gious and theological subjects, have been full of them. 
Those not usually so occupied, have yet thought it 
worth their wliile to bestow frequent attention upon 
them. Even the daily journals have from time to time 
resounded with the mention of the "Oxford tracts," 
and the names of their principal supporters. There 
have gone forth among the public at large, impressions 
of the existence, organization, and growth of principles, 
and a party of the most dangerous tendency, originating 
within the pale of the church, and extending even to 
both the ancient universities. They are commonly 
supposed to aim at little less than the complete revival 
of ecclesiastical authority and discipline, long consigned 
to oblivion; and a gradual, or if possible, an immediate 
restitution of the very spirit, if not the actual letter, of 
Komish superstition and papal despotism. 

In confirmation of these ideas, reference is made to 
the avowed opinions of this party, proclaimed in print, 
to the republication of ancient popish, or semi-popish 
documents and rituals, to the recommendation of them 
by modern comments and panegyrics. Much is also 
heard of the real or supposed secret influence excited 
by some leading zealots upon their devoted followers, 
both in the university and out of it. Reports are in 
circulation of secret meetings, and discussions in deep 
conclave, among the leaders and the initiated ; of assem- 
blies of a more popular character suited to the mass of 
disciples; of means used with great skill and discrimi- 
nation of character to entice and entrap novices of 
promising talents. Whispers, moreover, are heard of 
the profoundly austere exercises of the more advanced; 



TRADITION UNVEILED. 7 

of the rigorous observance of the ordinances of the 
church; of private assemblies for daily service at early 
matins and late vespers; of the restoration of obsolete 
practices in the church services; of vestments and 
crosses; of postures and bowings. Mysterious hints 
are heard of the asceticism of the more deeply initiated — 
of days spent in rigorous fastings — of nights passed in 
vigils or on the bare floor — of secret penances and 
macerations of the flesh. All this and much more is 
suspected or imagined, perhaps with little foundation. 
Yet, from the very nature of the case, impossible to be 
absolutely ascertained ; but on that very account, per- 
haps only the more generally reported and implicitly 
believed. 

(2.) But however mistaken some of the notions, or 
exaggerated the reports which prevail on the subject, 
it is not the less certain that there does exist consider- 
able ground for some such statements; and certainly 
ample reason for making a close inquiry into the facts 
of the case. It is clear, from published authorities, 
that opinions and views of theology (of at least a very 
marked and peculiar kind, applying more especially to 
the subject of church authority and others dependent 
on it,) have been extensively adopted and strenuously 
upheld, and are daily gaining ground among a consi- 
derable and influential portion of the members, as well 
as ministers, of the established church. 

Nor will this be surprising, if we look to the variety 
of motives which may concur in influencing men's 
minds in the reception of such views. From what we 
have already observed, it is manifest that the principles 
inculcated possess many claims on popular notice and 
public attention; and the more we look into the charac- 
ter of the tenets professed, the more shall we perceive 



8 TRADITION UNVEILED. 

what a powerful hold they are likely, from their nature, 
to maintain. It requires but little knowledge of the 
present and past state of religious parties, to perceive 
that there are a multitude of already existing prepos- 
sessions, of old established associations, and long che- 
rished feelings and prejudices, which, as far as they 
go, chime in admirably with the opinions in question ; 
and form an excellent ground-work on which the 
advocates of the cause may successfully advance their 
superstructure. 

When these opinions are more closely examined, it 
will become more clearly evident that they are (at least 
in numerous instances) far from being new to '' Aagli- 
can'' theology. It is true, that they may have lately 
received a more full and striking development : but in 
point of fact, among the well known and old established 
section of the establishment, commonly designated as 
the "high church" party, views, at least substantially 
the same, have been for centuries past professed ; and if 
not always so openly and broadly avowed, yet privately 
held and taught, and clearly to be traced on a careful 
examination of the writings of some of the " acknow- 
ledged and approved" fathers of the English church. 

Thus, it will be apparent that there are various par- 
ties already prepared to recognise these views, at least, 
up to a certain point. While it will be found that the 
doctrines themselves are of such a nature as to allow of 
considerable modification in the extent and degree to 
which they may be professed or assented to. 

The ranks of their nominal adherents are swelled by 
numbers who are far from embracing, or even, probably, 
apprehending the extreme principles of the leaders : e^nd 
this is at once sanctioned by their policy, and consistent 
with the avowed nature of their tenets. The first ap- 
pearance and ostensible character of this system, might 



TRADITION UNVEILED. 9 

seem to involve little else than a more rigid maintenance 
of wliat is called strict orthodoxy, and a more exact 
observance of the ritual and injanctions of the church : 
— requisitions, the force of which is at once acknow- 
ledged by a great majority of the clergy. While, again, 
there are watchwords and calls to nnion, and to making 
a stand to oppose dissent, and an alarm raised against 
the advance of all that is evil, under the fearful names 
of " Socinianism," and especially of '' Rationalism.'' 
These form rallying points to a vast number, who, to 
promote such great objects, readily join and acquiesce 
in a system, whose more recondite principles they do 
not pretend to have completely accepted, or even ex- 
amined. All this, too, is powerfully aided at the pre- 
sent day, by a peculiar combination of external circum- 
stances, and the state of political parties, 

(3.) The whole subject, indeed, in all its bearings, is 
one which seems to me to call for a far more close 
scrutiny than it has generally received. Notwithstand- 
ing some excellent discussion on particular points, 
whether of doctrine or discipline, there is still wanting 
a more comprehensive review of the great principles 
on which the system of church anthority is based ; and 
to which the mass of inquirers have the greater need to 
have their attention clearly directed, since nearly all 
the controversy which has been called forth, has refer- 
red to subordinate points. 

To the superficial observer, the whole question may 
appear to be solely one of forms and rites ; — of the 
revival of obsolete practices ; of kneelings and bowings ; 
of liturgies and canons; of fathers and councils; of 
scholastic creeds, and metaphysical dogmas; — which 
do not affect the vital truths of religion, 
2 



10 TRADITION UNVEILEI>. 

But, if more accurately examined, the subject will be 
found to involve topics of much deeper interest, and 
more substantial and general importance. The measure 
of popular discussion it has already received, has been 
of much use, if only in drawing attention to views 
which, whether true or false, equally demand investiga- 
tion. And similar beneficial results, it is to be hoped, 
in an increased degree, may arise from the further 
examination of the subject, especially when treated on 
more comprehensive principles, and in the light in 
which I here propose to view it. 

(4.) In popular language it has been the prevalent 
notion to accuse the supporters of this system of a 
direct leaning to popery : a charge which, nevertheless, 
in its proper sense, is easily seen to be unfounded. 
Nothing can be plainer than that in their writings, 
they studiously disclaim it. They draw a wide distinc- 
tion between the ancient and primitive Csttholic faith, 
and what they contend are the modern corruptions of it 
by the Church of Rome. And though they disavow 
the title of Protestants, yet they no less strenuously, in 
fact, protest against Romanism. We find them cen- 
suring its tenets in the strongest terms, condemning its 
followers as ''holding the truth in unrighteousness,"* 
calling its councils ''atrocious," and wishing for the 
total overthrow of the system,! the maintenance of 
which is nothing less than " the cause of antichrist, "f 
Thus, it can only be from ignorance of the nature of 
the question, or disregard of such distinct disavowals, 
that any one can be led to attribute to these writers any 
attempt at a " revival of popery." And when publicly 



• Froude's Remains, i. 293. t Ibid., i. 307. 

t Tracts for the Times, I No. 15. 



TRADITION UNVEILED. 11 

accused of such an attempt, it is not surprising that 
they have been able easily and triumphantly to vindi- 
cate themselves on the actual point of the accusation in 
its literal sense.* 

(5.) But though standing entirely acquitted of a real 
papistical tendency, the upholders of this system are 
yet censured, as forming a party in the church, and 
disseminating peculiar tenets, which, though not lite- 
rally popish, are, at least, strange to protestantism, 
utterly at variance with its spirit, and most unscriptural 
and pernicious in themselves. Even this charge, how- 
ever, must in justice be considerably modified before we 
can allow it to be well founded. To a considerable 
extent,' at least, they justify themselves with no small 
skill and learning. The authority of the fathers and 
councils, to which they appeal, was doubtless appealed 
to by most of the elder divines of the Church of Eng- 
land before them ; nay, was the very plea of some of 
the most eminent of the reformers, and may even be 
traced in the homilies and articles. The claim which 
they raise to an apostolic succession, and the powers 
confirmed by it, is no other than has been asserted by 
a long and bright array of the fathers of the '^ Anglican" 
church before them, by Jones (of Nayland,) and Leslie, 
by Laud, and Cranmer. Their more elevated views of 
the sacraments are no others than those long ago pro- 
fessed by Bramhall and Ken, Hooker, and Bull. If 
they are popish in their devotional forms, they are so 
in company with some of the brightest ornaments of 
the Protestant church, with Nelson and Hicks, with 
Andrewes and Herbert. If they revive penance and 
fasting, it is in accordance with the rules of Leigh ton 

* See Dr. Fausset's Sermon, and, Mr. Newman's letter in reply. Oxford, 1838. 



12 TRADITION UNVEILED. 

and Hammond, of Ken and Kettlewell. Nay, even in 
prayers for the dead, they find their sanction in Usher 
and Jeremy Taylor. 

(6.) We need not, however, attempt to pursue the 
more zealous votaries into the recesses of their temple. 
If we look at the influence which the system exercises 
on the multitude of its followers, we shall perceive that 
it is of precisely the same hind as that of the Romish 
church; and, though professedly at entire variance with 
popery in a literal acceptation, yet, in a wider sense, as 
referring to the ground and character both of doctrinal 
principles and devotional and ecclesiastical practices, 
there is that community of spirit and tendency which 
belongs to systems alike claiming an absolute authority 
over the conscience, grounded on an alleged divine 
commission. And, in common with the system of 
Romanism, it maintains a powerful ascendancy from 
appealing to the same, and those some of the most pre- 
valent, weaknesses of human nature. To the many, 
impatient of inquiry and indolently led by the preten- 
sions of authority, it holds forth the sufiiciency of an 
implicit uninquiring submission to the decrees of the 
church; and to those who are anxiously seeking some 
means of satisfying or compounding with some slight 
demands of conscience, it proposes the comfortable 
assurance of the efficacy of its observances : propositions 
which the mass of nominal believers will be always 
well prepared to embrace. For others of a more serious 
cast, it possesses higher attractions of a similar kind. 
It enlists in its service a host of the most powerful feel- 
ings and associations, and turns into its own channel a 
current of zeal and fervour, which would otherwise 
probably takes its more natural course in the stream of 
enthusiasm. 



TRADITION UNVEILED. 13 

(7.) But this system is able to accommodate itself to 
all tastes; and thus, with considerable eifect, also lays 
claim to a peculiar alliance with learning ; and puts 
forth exclusive pretensions to the acceptance of those 
who are deeply versed in real theological research, and 
the critical knowledge of Christian antiquity. It even 
calls philosophy to its aid, and professes to trace out its 
principles in all that widely ramified connexion, which 
must characterize deeply-rooted truth, with the theories 
of morals J and the ethical and metaphysical elements of 
all human motives and grounds of conviction. 

Here, indeed, its advocates readily perceive their 
advantage; their stronghold is an university devoted to 
the study of the ancient philosophy, little known or 
esteemed elsewhere; and they number in their ranks 
some of the most eminent in this line of research. But 
their principal strength lies in the peculiar possession 
of the fountain heads of ecclesiastical erudition. Here 
they can assume the claim of almost exclusive know- 
ledge, and feel warranted in looking down upon their 
opponents from a lofty vantage-ground. 

It is allowed, without denying that there are many 
distinguished exceptions, that the great mass of Pro- 
testant divines have been deficient in this branch of 
theological learning. Nay, according to views very 
prevalent among them, it has been regarded as alto- 
gether of little moment; and with a considerable party, 
all this kind of erudition has even been held in absolute 
dislike and contempt. Here undoubtedly the advocates 
of the system we are speaking of have, not without 
reason, felt their superiority. Nor is this their only or 
chief point of strength. 

(8.) Among Protestants of nearly all denominations, 
there have prevailed, and do prevail, certain views, not 



14 TRADITION UNVEILED. 

merely on particular points of doctrine and practice, but 
referring to the general grounds of belief, and sources 
of religious truth, which, to say the least, appear, when 
critically examined, of a very dubious character : founded 
for the most part on narrow, and ill-informed principles, 
and tending directly to very confused and unworthy 
views of Christianity. Opinions of the kind alluded to, 
may probably be traced to the ultra zeal which actuated 
a portion of the Reformers, and which descended to 
their successors, with even increased bitterness. It 
was said, '' The Bible, and the Bible only'' was the 
watchword of the Reformation; hence, the mere letter 
of the sacred volume became elevated in the eyes of the 
followers of the Reformation, as much into an object of 
worship, as the saints and apostles had been in those of 
the Romanists. Thus, from regarding Scripture as 
their sole appeal, they advanced to extravagant distor- 
tions of its use and authority. And the most prominent 
feature in several Protestant systems has been an over- 
strained and unwarranted view of the peculiar nature 
and character of divine inspiration; in accordance with 
which, the Bible came to be regarded, not merely as 
the sole authentic record of the Divine dispensations, 
but as possessing an inherent divine character and uni- 
versal application, impressed upon every syllable and 
every letter. From this principle, various inferences 
have followed, which naturally terminated in an un- 
happy spirit of fanaticism and bigotry, not inferior in 
its way to anything exhibited in the worst days of papal 
darkness. 

Now, in opposing these ultra-protestant errors and 
views of so unworthy a cast, a school of confessedly 
high attainments in philology and ecclesiastical learn- 
ing, have been easily able to assume a position of 
superiority in the eyes of the more enlightened, and 



TRADITION UNVEILED. 15 

to gain credit for successfully combating doctrines 
which, however cherished among the more ignorant 
portions of various religious communities, could not 
fail to diso^ust those of better information and more 
cultivated minds. Thus, they find a numerous party 
of supporters who will so far go along with them; and 
they are not slow to perceive the influence they can 
exert in the appeal to superior illumination, and more 
rational views of the grounds of religious belief, and of 
the general nature of Christian doctrine as purified 
from the repulsive tenets of a vulgar fanaticism. 

In this respect, indeed, they concur closely, in some 
points, with those most widely opposed to them on 
others. They are far too well versed in the learned 
views of Christian theology to fall into the errors of 
illiterate expositors, and the blind adoption of the mere 
letter of the Bible, without distinction of times, persons, 
and dispensations, which has led to such melancholy 
perversions of Christianity among Protestants. Thus 
they are superior to that unhappy literalism which 
gives rise to the Calvinistic views in their various 
modifications; as well as those kindred doctrines which 
distinguish the puritanical school, as, e. g., the confu- 
sion between the Jewish Decalogue and the moral law; 
and the notion that the obligation of the Sabbath was 
transferred to the Lord's day. On such points (es- 
pecially the last) it would be, of course, impossible for 
any, versed in Christian antiquities, to fall into the 
vulgar errors which so widely prevail; and, according- 
ly, on these points, the traditionists (as far as they speak 
plainly) can claim the assent and approval of the enlight- 
ened inquirer. 

(9.) These points are closely connected with the 
consideration of the peculiar ybrm and manner in which 



16 TRADITION UNVEILED. 

the Christian revelation is developed in the New Tes- 
tament : that is, simply through the medium of a nar- 
rative and of occasional letters. Thus all its declara- 
tions of doctrine and practice appear but incidentally- 
made, or merely alluded to, as things already known : 
at all events, no where ^idXedi formally and systematically. 
The total absence of any precise code, or dogmatic for- 
mulary in the apostolic writings, is a fact not only ad- 
mitted, but pointed out and insisted on, even by some 
of the most powerful opponents of this system.* In 
the matter oifact, then, both parties coincide ; in mark- 
ing its importance to a correct view of the case, they 
unite. This may be a point which is little considered 
by the generality, who have been accustomed to look 
to the mere text of Scripture as a literal rule. It may 
require some consideration to overcome the preposses- 
sion v^ith which a different view is naturally at first 
regarded, and which possesses all that force arising 
from the very general adoption of such literal and sys- 
tematized views of Scripture in religious education and 
public instruction. 

Further, it is true that some difference of opinion may 
prevail as to the precise extent to which a person, sup- 
posed to be competently informed, but totally unprepos- 
sessed by creeds, if left to himself, would frame a doc- 
trinal system from the bare text of the Bible. It v^ould 
appear extremely difficult for those habituated to dog- 
matic forms and expositions, to place themselves fairly 
in the position of such an inquirer, so as to form any 
unbiassed view of this kind. They would almost 
unavoidably assume much too precise and systematic a 
scheme as the result of such supposed researches. This, 



* See Archbishop Whately's Essay on this subject; and Tracts for the TVmes, 
No. 45. p. .5. Newman's Arians, p. 158, 



TRADITION UNVEILED. 17 

however, does not materially affect the main fact to 
which I have just referred : viz. that the ordinary dog- 
matic statements and schemes of the Christian revelation 
are not to be found in the actual words of the New Tes- 
tament, nor even so implied, as to be deducible from the 
text in an obvious and unquestionable manner. So that 
if men were left to their own deductions from the text, 
and interpretations of it, they would hardly avoid great 
diversity in their views of the Christian system. 

But while the fact is equally admitted, it is very 
dif^GYenilj accounted for and applied hj opposite parties : 
by the Unitarians, and by the divines of the Church of 
England ; by the advocates of private judgment, and by 
the supporters of tradition. The last named, in fact, 
take up their strong position on this point, and make it 
their main argument for the necessity of a further guide. 

(10.) This point will be more fully illustrated by the 
following considerations : — 

Among those who most strenuously uphold the prin- 
ciple of '^ the Bible only," and freedom of conscience, 
(it must be confessed), there is very commonly to be 
found an adherence to dogmas not a little inconsistent 
with those professions. There is clearly implied, if not 
avowed, a reference to some power, vested somewhere, to 
settle the true doctrine and interpretation of the Bible. 
Thus we have certain classes of dissenters distinguish- 
ing themselves as ''orthodox." Now this claim to 
''orthodoxy" must suppose some 'd\xi\ioYiij besides the 
Bible. It is not alone the church authority, handed 
down in an exclusive apostolic succession, which is 
inconsistent with the sole recognition of Scripture ; but 
any rule of doctrine whatever, other than that in which 
a number of individuals voluntarily agree. To uphold 
the Bible alone^ is to uphold every man's right to inter- 
3 



18 TRADITION UNVEILED, 

pret it : less than this, is to maintain the Bible with a 
divided authority ; the word of God, conjointly with 
some rule of man's devising. 

The advocates of tradition are not backward to notice 
this inconsistency, and to press it upon the consideration 
of all who are desirous of keeping to w^hat is called 
orthodoxy, and cannot but thus perceive the necessity 
of a paramount authority to lay down wherein it con- 
sists, and which must have a far higher origin than any 
mere human opinion. 

The professed principle of '^ the Bible and the Bible 
only," when taken in conjunction with this disposition 
(not avowed, nor perhaps even perceived) to adopt what 
were in reality other dogmatic standards^ has commonly 
driven Protestant divines to find in Scripture, authority 
for tenets which no unprepossessed mind could possibly 
detect there : and to stretch the logic of theology to the 
most extravagant length of inference, holding out, as 
decisive proofs of some doctrinal system, single texts, 
or expressions, or else what they term, " the general 
tenor of Scripture;" where to all legitimate reasoning 
there could appear nothing but the remotest allusion, 
the most entirely imaginary parallel, or often no con- 
nexion or relation w^hatever. 

Now as the traditional system does away with the 
necessity for such weak and flimsy inferences, so it is 
one of its most truly valuable characteristics, that its 
advocates are not backward to point out, and even insist 
upon, the distinction. They readily allow, and even 
contend for, the insufficiency of such pretended proofs 
of doctrinal points. They draw clearly the line between 
those propositions which are absolutely declared, or 
logically implied, in the actual text of Scripture, and 
those further systematic views, the proofs of which 
sound reason must pronounce quite illusory, so far as 



TRADITION UNVEILED. 19 

this kind of testimony is relied upon : if they be merely 
sought for in the positive declarations of the written 
v^ord, there they assuredly cannot be found. Hence 
their conclusion^ the necessity for the further authority 
of tradition and the teaching of the Church. 

Now this conclusion I shall examine in the sequel. 
My present purpose is merely to remark, that nothing 
can be more just and valuable than the considerations 
on v^hich they build it. In this respect, the writings 
of the traditionists, and the free discussion of their 
views, cannot fail to be of essential service to sound 
theology. To draw attention to this very important, 
but lamentably neglected distinction, is, of all objects, 
one of the most desirable in the existing state of theo- 
logical views. 

(11.) The distinction here dwelt upon is applied by 
these writers themselves to several points of doctrine. 
I will here advert very briefly to one; viz., that which 
concerns the constitution and authority of the Christian 
church itself. There have been many divines who 
fancied they could read in the actual records of the 
New Testament, (especially when mixed up in some 
ill-explained manner with the Old,) a complete scheme 
of church government and apostolic authority, as an 
integral and essential part of Christianity; a scheme 
establishing a perpetual exclusive divine commission to 
administer the sacraments, to perpetuate the succession, 
and to condemn heretics : though different parties have 
contended for such an institution under different forms. 

Now the traditionists readily allow (what must appear 
to the strict inquirer,) that all such appeal to rvritten 
evidence alone is utterly insufficient to establish the 
point. No such institution, complete and distinct, is 
to be found in the New Testament, positively delivered. 



20 TRADITION UNVEILED. 

or strictly deducible ; no code of its constitution laid 
down like the Levitical in the Old. Tradition, how- 
ever, supplies the deficiency : and showing us what was 
the practice and doctrine of the apostolic fathers, fur- 
nishes the key to the right understanding of the few 
scattered hints given by the apostles themselves, and 
enables us to put the detached fragments together into 
a regular building ; which we could not do without its 
aid. The question then is, what is the authority of this 
tradition of these fathers of the early church ? We may 
here just remark by the way, that some supporters of 
tradition and church authority (apparently not fully 
possessed with its principles,) have upheld it, not as 
independent, but only as having its claims distinctly 
proved from Scripture ; for v/hich they allege certain 
passages : but if the sense be disputed, then they are 
driven to allege further, that what they mean is, those 
passages when understood agreeably to their true and 
orthodox interpretation ; but this is established by the 
authority of tradition and the sentence of the church. 
Yet this authority again in its turn is derived from 
those passages, so understood ! The perpetual circle 
in which we thus get involved is too palpable to need 
further remark. We must advance upon an independent 
ground of tradition to follow out the consistent views of 
church authority. To proceed then : 

(12.) With respect to the teaching of the church. 
The advocates of tradition dwell upon the consideration 
that the Bible was never meant for the purpose of rudi- 
mentary instruction ; that more especially the books of 
the New Testament were obviously not written with 
the object of conveying the first elements to converts ; 
and that in fact no one ever, for the first time, learns 
the truths of Christianity without other instruction, by 



TRADITION UNVEILED. 21 

the mere perusal of the Scriptures alone. Hence they 
maintain that the teaching of the church is after all the 
only way by which religious instruction is or can be in 
the first instance communicated , and that such teaching 
can only address itself to the disciple in the voice of 
authority. 

Now even thus far many of the opponents of this sys- 
tem will go along with its advocates. It is indeed 
manifest that, from the mere necessity of the case, such 
must be the actual mode and course of religious instruc- 
tion in the great majority of cases. The many must 
unavoidably trust principally to the teaching of others, 
and almost implicitly follow their authority. And no 
person of common sense will deny, that it is even a most 
rational proceeding to follow and adopt the instructions 
of those who we are convinced are wiser and better in- 
formed than ourselves. The maxim ^' oportet discentem 
credere," is one which commands the assent of every 
reasonable man. 

But let it be carefully observed, that in reference to 
our present subject, there is a most material distinction 
involved. The question is not whether such teaching 
should be followed, but on rvhat grounds; not whether 
it be useful, but to 7vhat extent it is to be carried. Every 
learner must take much on trust; but to do so beyond 
a certain point, is to put an end to all real learning. The 
real question at issue is, not whether some elementary 
teaching laid down by a voice of authority be not right, 
and even indispensable, but what is the origin, nature, 
and extent of that authority? To this main question, 
however concealed and disguised by irrelevant matter 
and discussions of secondary importance, all the other 
topics which have been agitated are entirely subordinate. 
Of these topics many, from their nature, have assumed 
an undue prominence; or in some instances, perhaps, 



22 TRADITION UNVEILED. 

they have been purposely put forward to withdraw the 
attention of the opponent from the real and essential 
points, which were studiously kept in the back-ground. 
But if the inquirer resolutely cast aside the false trap- 
pings, which do but encumber and conceal the real 
question, he will find it involve considerations of the 
deepest importance. The discussion of the nature and 
evidence of traditional authority will he found intimately 
connected with the very foundations of faith and the 
essential grounds of all religion. It is under such a sense 
of the importance of the subject, that I conceive it neces- 
sary to follow it up in further detail. 

(13.) Endeavouring, then, to collect the fairest view 
of this system from the writings of its avowed support- 
ers, we find that it recognises formularies of faith, rites, 
ceremonies, interpretations of doctrine, rules of practice, 
together wdth peculiar views of the eflicacy of certain 
ordinances connected with powers exclusively vested in 
an episcopally-ordained priesthood, all founded and sup- 
ported on an authority inherent in the Church, which 
is supplementary to that of the Scriptures, and is ap- 
pealed to, conjointly with the New Testament. It is 
held to have been conveyed through a perpetual un- 
broken tradition. On this ground a scheme and system 
of faith and practice is laid down, which, it is admitted, 
is not to be found expressly stated in the writings of the 
New Testament; where, in fact, its different points are 
never more than indirectly referred to. The written 
record is merely appealed to as furnishing certain evi- 
dence in corroboration and support of the dogmas of the 
Church, which have an independent origin and autho- 
rity of their own. 

This tradition, it is contended, has been conveyed 
down in an uncorrupt stream ; not, indeed, always flow- 



TRADITION UNVEILED. 2S 

ing with an equally wide, strong, or conspicuous cur- 
rent, yet never interrupted or lost. It is traced upward, 
from the writings of the Oxford school of the present 
day, (by whom it has but been more pointedly brought 
into notice,) to those of a few comparatively obscure 
theologians of the past century: from these, through 
the divines of the nonjuring party, up to Laud and his 
coadjutors : and so to a certain portion of the reformers, 
whose pre-eminent merit, among their very irregular 
and often heretical brethren, was the strict preservation 
of these ancient principles, amid the rage for novelty, 
and the unjustifiable and indiscriminate attacks which, 
in those untoward times, were so ruthlessly made on all 
the venerable institutions of the Church. Through this 
channel (however little regarded in the turmoil,) was 
preserved the vital current of tradition; which had 
passed less perverted and contaminated than is com- 
monly supposed through the schoolmen, and the coun- 
cils, downwards from those purer ages in which the 
same great invariable truths had been consigned in the 
writings of the Fathers : while the general consent of 
the orthodox, in all parts of the world, was the evidence 
of a common primeval origin ; and the precious and au- 
thentic records of the earliest age, — the remains of the 
Apostolic fathers, — and the practices of their times, 
directly connected the whole system with the teaching 
of the Apostles themselves, who had confessedly left in 
writing but a small portion of the instructions orally 
delivered to their converts and successors. 

(14.) The remains which have come down to us of 
the Fathers are not, indeed, set up as furnishing the 
entire system of primitive doctrine, but only as forming 
a part of the accumulation of the floating body of tradi- 
tion, portions of which have, in all ages, been from time 



24 TRADITION UNVEILED. 

to time arrested frora their fugitive condition, and retain- 
ed in writing. In thus recording and transmitting the tra- 
ditions delivered to them, it wdiS not, perhaps, necessary 
that these writers should formally state or maintain the 
authority attached to them. It has, however, been a 
matter of question, discussed with much learning, whe- 
ther they do actually recognise that authority.* Pas- 
sages have been cited, in which such appeal is directly 
made; but these refer to instances in which it appears 
that the opponents, with whom those fathers were con- 
tending, also appealed to other traditions of their own. 
The question between them thus became rather one of 
the relative value of the two opposing traditions; or of 
the right of these "heretics," (so they seem to have 
represented it,) to possess any tradition at all. 

Such controversies may at least teach us something 
of the absolute value of tradition, even in those times. 

But the more special point of view, in which we are 
now considering the subject, does not require the par- 
ticular examination of these testimonies; we are rather 
concerned wdth what must be the general character of 
tradition, and the authority which, if properly authen- 
ticated, it must necessarily claim. 

(15.) In pursuing our inquiry into the evidence for 
the purity and authority of the doctrines thus handed 
down, we ought not to pass over one principle which 
has been appealed to for fixing it, and has obtained 
considerable celebrity, as, at least in appearance, offering 
a general rule of very simple and universal application, 
— the reference to the ''general consent" of the Church 
as the sole and sufficient test of true doctrine ; — most 
comprehensively expressed in the maxim, " quod semper, 

* See Dr. Siiuttleworth On Tradition, p. 1 — 9. 



TRADITION UNVEILED. 25 

ubique et ah omnibus ^''^ of Vincentius Lirinensis; a rule 
equally decisive as to its meaning and as to its evidence, 
when carefully considered. 

If we look to the interpretation of it, it amounts in 
fact to this : — That is the orthodox doctrine which is 
held by all the orthodox, at all times, and in all places. 

And its authority is equally clear ; for supposing the 
meaning freed from all ambiguity, and we inquire what 
makes it binding : it is manifest we have either the ipse 
dixit of Vincentius, or the authority of general consent, 
obviously proved by general consent. 

These points involve difficulties which may incline 
us rather to return to the general question. And, after 
all, it will be manifest that no such evidence as mere 
consent, even if universal^ can satisfy the real demands 
of church authority, which, to be worth anything, must 
look to far higher credentials. 

(16.) Now in looking at the nature and evidence of 
this tradition, it will be expedient to dwell briefly on 
one point : not indeed that it is contested or denied by 
the traditionists, but that it is necessary for a clear view 
of the matter, that it should be kept entirely free from 
the ambiguity in which the writers of this school too 
often envelop their meaning. 

The doctrine of the church, the traditions thus delivered, 
do, in fact, convey some views over and above those ac- 
tually disclosed in the writings of the New Testament 
alone. This indeed is almost too evident to need formally 
stating. But it is desirable to keep steadily in view, how 
absolutely this is, and must be the case, whether the 
addition be made in one form or another : whether it 
consist in the actual propounding of some specific doc- 
trine in express terms ; or merely in an explanation or 
sense put upon the terms of some passage of Scripture : 
4 



26 TRADITION UNVEILED. 

or in a scheme, arrangement, or formulary, by which 
the scattered declarations of the sacred writers are re- 
duced into system and connected together ; or in the posi- 
tive injunction of a rite or institution, only alluded to, 
and perhaps not that, in the New Testament. In any 
way there is something added. By some of this School,* 
Tradition and the Church are expressly represented as 
standing in the same position with respect to the Bible, 
as the Newtonian system does with respect to the mere 
phenomena of astronomy : which at first sight even 
appear at variance with it. According to them, the 
office of the church is not only to preserve the true 
doctrine, but to drive away the false : the church is to 
condemn heresy if that is, to be the judge of the truth : 
and the judge is the depository of the truth. They 
claim for the church an authority to enforce its decrees 
on the acceptance of men, and to demand their submis- 
sion.J 

(17.) The facts being thus clear and undisputed, let 
us proceed a step further, and remark on the nature 
and hearing of them. Now to render this more distinct, 
let us put for a moment the supposition that the foun- 
ders of Christianity were only pre-eminently wise and 
good men, the preachers of a pure and rational system 
of religion and morals : then the whole scheme of tradi- 
tion is perfectly intelligible and unexceptionable. In 
this case they might have left but imperfect records of 
their doctrines, — they might have adopted a method of 
oral instruction, and have organized a traditionary sys- 
tem, which their successors might have carried on to 
higher degrees ; and possessing an equal authority with 



* See Froude's Remains, vol. i. p. 143. t Newman's Avians, p. 253, 

t Letter to Faitsset, p. 98. 



TRADITION UNVEILED. 27 

their first teachers, might have more fully developed, 
and even improved upon, the original principles : v^hile 
the concurrent judgment of those most deeply versed in 
the system would aflford a satisfactory authority as to its 
true meaning at all times. 

If, however, a different view be taken ; if, in accord- 
ance, at least, with all commonly received notions of 
Christianity, it be allowed that its founders were invested 
with a peculiar superhuman authority ; — if Divine Re- 
velation be considered to stand apart from all mere 
human systems as a thing sui generis ; — then, such an 
amalgamation of the original disclosures with the body 
of subsequent traditional teaching, will involve insuper- 
able difficulties and contradictions, — unless the same 
divine autliority helong to both. 

Now the advocates of tradition, it is to be presumed, 
could never allow such a supposition as that above put ; 
— they are, at least, professed believers in the Divine 
character of Christianity : and thus, regarding it from 
its outset as one continued and indivisible institution, 
the same divine authority must attach to all its subse- 
quent stages, in which further and more systematic 
views, that is, additional truths, were developed by those 
who succeeded to the chair of authoritative instruction. 

(18.) If the disclosure of Christian truth began by 
inspiration, nothing afterwards can add to it but an 
authority equivalent to inspiration. No power can 
decide rvith authority in any case what is the sense of 
Revelation, but the same which originally disclosed it. 

Mere human authority, however good, is obviously 
insufficient for this purpose. The combined suffrages 
of all the wisest and best men can never amount to a 
divine sentence obligatory on others. Universal consent 
is but human opinion still; which can therefore only 



28 TRADITION UNVEILED. 

bind those who agree in it. Unauthoritative tradition 
(however applicable in other ways), can never create 
points of faith, or lay down the terms of salvation : to 
do so, it must become authoritative. If then the New 
Testament be admitted to contain the divine revelation 
of Christianity, and if the additional interpretation of 
tradition and judgment of the church be equally neces- 
sary to the full exposition and maintenance of the Gos- 
pel, then these traditional and authoritative additions 
must also he regarded as conveying portions of divine 
revelation as rvell as the rvritten record: they must in 
fact he a part of the Gospel: they must he as much the 
rvord of God as the Nerv Testament is. Now even this 
conclusion is distinctly allowed by some of the writers 
of this school at the present day. 

They expressly speak of ^^Revelation wherever founds 
— in Scripture, or antiquity.''"' ^ They maintain "the 
divinity of traditionary religion;"! to impugn it, is 
" blasphemy." J They place even the modern formula- 
ries of the church upon the same level as Scriptures. 
" The authority of the church is embodied in its articles 
of faith .... they are as much an integral part of the 
Christian dispensation as the Bible itself. "§ Nay, if 
we can get over an apparent contradiction, it would 
seem that the articles are of higher authority than the 
Bible: for, we have "• two great foundations of religion, 
— the Bible and the Articles ; for the Bible is included 
in the Articles. "|| 

It must here be remarked that I have used the term, 
"Divine Revelation," in the popular sense in which it 
is commonly employed, perhaps involving a considerable 



* British Critic, No. 45, p. 224. t Newman's Arians, p. 87. 

X Froude's Remains, i. 438. § Sewell, on Subscription, p. 34. 

II Sewell, p. 37. 



TRADITION UNVEILED. 29 

complexity of ideas, if closely analyzed, but still suffi- 
ciently free from ambiguity to convey an idea of some 
distinct depository of Christian truth. Now v^ith re- 
gard to the actual volume of Scripture, it v^ill, on all 
sides, be allowed, that considerable difference of opinion 
does, and may fairly, exist, as to the precise nature of 
that inspired character which is generally ascribed to it 
by Protestants. The extreme views held by one party, 
of a literal inspiration in every syllable, have certainly 
been such as seemed, to the more calm and reasoning 
inquirers, chargeable with fanatical extravagance; and 
doubtless, so far the disciples of the school of tradition, 
in avoiding these extreme opinions, appear to adopt 
those vt^hich accord with the results of more learned and 
enlightened inquiry; perhaps even, to some, they may 
seem to advance not a little towards an opposite extreme, 
in adopting so very wide a notion of inspiration as v^ould 
be necessary in order to include antiquity as well as 
Scripture: nay, not merely antiquity, but the "Articles 
of the Church of England," "the lives and deaths of 
the great framers of which, attested a supernatural 
assistance."* 

Thus, then, according to this system, it follows that 
the tradition, the commentary, the synopsis, the general 
scheme of Christian doctrine, handed down through the 
teaching of the primitive church, — the forms, the ob- 
servances, the sacerdotal authority, thus transmitted, 
are all parts of the revelation of Christianity, essential 
to the right recognition of the real spirit and genius of 
the Apostolic institution, as much so as the text of the 
New Testament. Now, in looking to the authority of 
this tradition, (without entering into the details of its 
uncorrupt transmission in later times,) let us go at once 

* Sewell, on Subscription, p. 33. 



30 TRADITION UNVEILED. 

to the fountain head, to the earliest, and, therefore, it is 
presumed, to the purest stage of traditional evidence; 
viz. — the Church and the writings of the Fathers in the 
first few centuries. In the writings of St. Justin and 
St. Irenseus, and in the institutions of their times, we 
are to learn the views of Christian doctrine, and the ob- 
servances of Christian discipline, which they received 
from their predecessors : we are led back to St. Ignatius, 
and St. Polycarp, to St. Clement, and St. Hermas, the 
contemporaries and fellow-labourers of the apostles. 

(19.) The writings, then, of the early Fathers embody 
and record, at least, some portion of the instructions 
they had received from the apostles, over and above 
what the apostles themselves have bequeathed in their 
writings. If the works of the fathers are authentic and 
genuine, these recorded doctrines are neither more nor 
less than fragments of the New Testament : the deposi- 
tory of them is just as much the word of God as any 
part of the apostolic writings. Where is the difference 
between a passage in St. Irenseus, recording the doctrine 
delivered by St. John, and a passage in the Acts, record- 
ing a discourse of St. Peter? 

If what is recorded be no more than mere verbatim 
repetitions of what we find in the New Testament, then, 
indeed, they are testimonies to the genuineness of the 
New Testament, but nothing more. This, however, (as 
we have seen,) is a very small part of what tradition 
pretends to. It manifests claims of higher character 
than this. The whole system implies the addition of 
an authorized comment to the apostles' writings. The 
¥ery office of the church, according to this view, is to 
preserve a body of exposition, and form of doctrine and 
discipline over and above the bare text. The fathers 
lay down such comments and such doctrines with an 



TKADITION UNVEILED. 31 

authority which they derived from the apostles, but in 
terms beyond merely those employed by the apostles in 
their writings. 

According to this view, then, the church and the 
fathers were simply as much the depositaries of one por- 
tion of Christian doctrine, as the apostles and evangelists 
were of another. The church was commissioned to lay 
down the outline and principles of a system, of which 
the New Testament exhibits the scattered details. The 
authority of both then being exactly alike, the difference, 
if any, being only in the particular department assigned, 
to each, it is a necessary consequence that the evidence 
requisite to establish that authority must be precisely 
THE SAME for each. 

If revealed truth require the evidences usually as- 
signed to it, then those evidences must be found equally 
attesting every vehicle of revelation. Scripture contains 
revealed truth; and the dogmas of the church are an 
additional body of revealed truth; and all revealed truth 
must equally require, or not require, the same evidence. 
To suppose such attestation given in one instance, and 
withheld in another, would be to vitiate the whole body 
of evidence ; since we should then never know where to 
recognise it, and must altogether cease to trust to it. 
Now the hind of evidence, at least, most generally 
looked to, is that derived from miracles ; which, in this 
view, (as developed by the most approved writers,) are 
regarded solely as the credentials of a divine commission. 

(20.) Now it is well known to be one of the most 
striking and important portions of the tradition conveyed 
in the writings of the fathers, that it bears distinct and 
unequivocal testimony to the prevalence of miraculous 
powers in the church, not only in the earliest age, but even 
to a much later period. To call in question these recorded 



82 TRADITION UNVEILED. 

testimonies of the Christian writers, would be to impugn 
their authority altogether. It is impossible to refuse 
them credit in attesting the occurrence of matters of 
fact, w^hile their authority is accepted in delivering doc- 
trines, or in transmitting the practices and institutions 
of the church. The depositaries of apostolic truth surely 
cannot for a moment be disregarded in their statements 
of miraculous events. Now, we have already pointed 
out the essentially divine character of the authoritative 
teaching of the church. It therefore follows, according 
to the plain view of Christian evidence, that we must 
regard it in connexion with the miraculous porvers vouch- 
safed to the church. They were manifestly the evi- 
dences of that inspiration, which, (on the system of 
authority as above shown,) we are compelled to ascribe 
to the early teachers. Supernatural gifts were clearly 
evidential of superhuman powers vested in the succes- 
sors of the apostles; they were certificates of that divine 
deposit intrusted to them over and above the text of the 
New Testament; and which, after all refinements and 
distinctions, could be nothing else than divine revelation. 
These considerations bring us directly to the connex- 
ion of these ages with that of the apostles themselves. 
The system of tradition involves the whole question of 
Christian evidence. The cases are one and the same. 
The Christian missionaries in the time of St. Irenseus, 
and later, ejected evil spirits, healed the sick, and raised 
the dead;* and they taught by divine commission the 
unwritten word: that is, they worked miracles, and 
taught revealed truth, of which they were the deposita- 
ries. St. Peter and St. Paul did no more. The case 
of the early fathers is thus identified with that of the 



* For example see Iren^us, [a. d. 190] Adv, Hcsres, proem 3. ii. 22, 5Q. v. 
Also OuiGEN, [a. d. 220] Coni. Cels. hi. 



TRADITION UNVEILED. 33 

apostles. On these principles, wherein do they differ? 
or how can we say that the miraculous commission of 
the apostles ever ended, and that of an unaided and un- 
gifted church began? 

(21.) According to the system we are considering, 
the constitution of the church, is one and indivisible ; 
the chain of tradition unbroken and indissoluble through, 
succeeding ages. Its different successive portions are 
undistinguishable in authority, truth, and evidence. No 
period can be assigned, at which, any essential change in 
the nature of the case took place. The divine commis- 
sion vested in the successors of the apostles was, in like 
manner, transmitted to those who were ordained to suc- 
ceed them : the same gifts and powers were alike con- 
tinued as the indispensable credentials of their authority 
to decree and distinguish absolutely what was Christian 
truth, and what was heresy. This authority they cer- 
tainly were not slow to claim and to exercise. Nor did 
the pretensions to its possession decrease as ages elapsed. 
It obviously matters not that in later times the precise 
extent and form of authority claimed, the precise 
shape in which it was pretended to be conferred, might 
have been greatly modified, or peculiar claims set up as 
to the exact parties who might be its chief depositary. 
The broad fact that such power was in any way claimed 
and exercised, is sufficient for our purpose. What were 
its evidences ? Will it be said that it required less evi- 
dence at a greater distance of time ? Will it be con- 
tended that equal or even stronger test of its purity was 
not necessary at a greater distance from the source? 
Rather the reverse, we might imagine, should be the 
case. But, as to the fact, vvere not the same external 
evidences continued? Were not miraculous powers 
still pretended to by the church through a succession of 
5 



34 TRADITION UNVEILED. 

ages? Was the claim ever dropped? Was the chain of 
miracles ever interrupted ? Is it not upheld by theolo- 
gical writers, and ecclesiastical historians^ v^ho, if they 
did belong to a portion of the church, might have become 
corrupt in some particulars, yet could not have their tes- 
timony or veracity impugned merely from this circum- 
stance ? 

In this respect, then, the latest and darkest ages of 
superstition and corruption are inseparably united in 
one chain of evidence with the earliest and purest times. 
And these, again, are as necessarily connected with the 
present. And the very same considerations oblige us to 
ask, how is it that there are now no miracles to authen- 
ticate the divine decrees of the church ? Or, are we to 
believe that such miracles or ''half-miracles" are occa- 
sionally wrought, and that dormant powers are revived 
in the church?* 

Thus the manifest consequence of the system of tra- 
dition and church authority is to obliterate the boundary 
line of distinctive evidence betrveen the New Testament and 
the fathers and councils ; betrveen the apostles and their 
successors to the present day. In this vierv both are placed 
on the same footing ; both must be equally inspired and 
divine; or, [we have the alternative,) both equally unin- 
spired and human. 

(22.) It is on all hands confessed that the subject of 
the miracles of the early church is not free from difficul- 
ties; but, upon the system of church authority,, they 
become serious. The state of things in the Christian 
world, even to the present times, is thus identified with 
that which, in other ages, was deemed miraculous. And 
this manifestly tends to impugn all those distinct notions 

' eg. Sec Fkouuk';; Htuudns, vol, i. p. 3:21. 



TRADITION UNVEILED. 35 

of special divine interposition, which have been insisted 
on bj those who have attempted a logical discussion of 
the evidence of miracles. According to the views so 
laid down by the most eminent writers, the precise force 
of that evidence is, to supply a definite test of that which 
is divine revelation, and that which is not. Hence, any 
system which breaks down the boundary line, which 
disguises it, renders it hazy or ill-defined, as effectually 
defeats and nullifies the evidence as if it were rejected 
and denied altogether. 

We have, then, to inquire further, how can the tradi- 
tional doctrine be relieved from this serious objection ? 
And we may consider the alternatives which present 
themselves. 

1st, It is alleged that the miracles of the primitive 
church were not evidential, but wrought for some other 
objects? — ^for the support of the church under difficul- 
ties ? or, appealed to as a triumph over the magical pre- 
tensions of the heathen from their superior wonder and 
power ?* And that, in fact, in an age where everything 
was ascribed to the supernatural, no distinction would 
be perceived, no test afforded ? 

If so, how can we argue upon the miracles of the New 
Testament as being evidential ? How are we to draw the 
distinction ? If several parties present the same creden- 
tials, how are we to distinguish any as the ambassador ? 

Or, 2dly, Are we (along with some eminent writers) 
to call in question the credit of the miracles of the later 
ages, and contend that the belief in demoniacal posses- 
sions and the power of exorcism, or the general prone- 
ness to the supernatural, was only what was common to 
the spirit of the times, to which the Christian teachers 
were either not superior, or conformed themselves? Or 

* See Neaxdf.r's Eccl. Hisl. Transl p. 67, and Paley's Evid. vol. ii. p. 339. 



36 TRADITION UNVEILED. 

that legendary fictions and pious frauds were the admit- 
ted and justified vehicles of orthodox instruction? If 
so, upon the traditional ])rinciple^ how are we to avoid 
extending the same observations to the earlier ages ? If 
tradition and authoritative teaching are combined unin- 
terruptedly into one body with the records of the apos- 
tles, how shall credit be given to one part, which is 
withheld from another, of the same connected system of 
authoritative truth ? 

How and where shall we break up the indivisibility 
of the one body apd scheme of Christian instruction and 
apostolic authority ? and of the evidences which authen- 
ticate it ? It is not the rejection of the miracles of later 
ages, the partial and one-sided criticisms of Middleton, 
which will avail; the traditionist must take higher 
ground, and rather seek alliance with Gibbon and 
Hume. 

The same principle must apply to the truth of mira- 
cles in the church in all ages alike, (/^the teaching of all 
ages be alike authoritative and divine. Were then the 
successive bishops and teachers of the church divinely 
attested messengers? the accredited depositaries of an 
infallible revelation, the oracles of Christian truth? or 
are the miracles of the apostles and their Lord to be 
rejected or explained away ? are we to adopt faith in 
the fathers or rationalism towards the Ne7V Testament ? 
One of the two courses we must follow, if this system 
be true. The advocates of authoritative tradition and 
an inspired church must equally uphold or reject its 
external credentials in all times. 

3dly, Another alternative remains. We have thus 
far assumed the correctness of the view of the external 
evidence of Christianity, as laid down by the most 
approved writers : as Paley and others. Will the advo- 
cates of tradition contend that these views are altogether 



TRADITION UNVEILED. 37 

faulty in principle ? will they reject as fallacious and 
presumptuous, the idea of demanding miracles as the 
indispensoMe"^ credentials of inspiration ? Shall we be 
told that these statements of evidence are merely of a 
nature addressed to popular apprehension ; and that, to 
insist on them as the necessary proofs of our faith, only 
shows that we have not fathomed the depths of the sub- 
ject ? Or, allowing the existence of those difficulties in 
establishing their credibility, which have appeared so 
insurmountable to sceptics, will it be considered better to 
avoid discussing them, and thus to discard such argu- 
ments as altogether of no force and no value, and in fact 
concede every thing to the unbeliever ? 

(23.) When we come to the actual declarations of the 
traditionists, it is difficult to make out their views on 
matters of evidence, or in the ambiguity of their lan- 
guage to discover which of the above alternatives they . 
prefer. But their sentiments, when they do break 
through what seems a conscious shyness of discussion, 
appear, to say the least, open to much doubt and suspi- 
cion. Such ideas (for instance) as are implied in the 
following passage, surely can but tend directly to con- 
found all distinct notions of miraculous evidence. 

'' Whoso will not recognise the finger of God in his 
providential cures, will not see it in his miraculous: 
.... When men had explained away, as the mere 
effects of imagination, cures, in modern times out of the 
wonted order of God's Providence, which, though no 
confirmation of a religious system, seem to have been 
personal rewards to strong personal faith, they were 
ready to apply the same principle to many of the mira- 
cles of the Gospel ; when they had ceased to see in 

* See Paley's Evidevces, vol. i. p. 3. 



33 TRADITION UNVEILED. 

lunatics the power permitted to evil spirits, they were 
prepared, and did, as soon as it was suggested, deny it 
in the demoniacs of the New Testament."-^ Again, we 
may perhaps discover their sense of the value of the 
miraculous evidence of the New Testament, when they 
ascribe exactly as much certainty to similar claims unsup- 
ported by such evidence : e. g. ''We must be as sure,^ 
they say, ''that the bishop is Christ's appointed repre- 
sentative, as if we actually saw him work miracles as 
St. Peter and St. Paul did."t 

At all events, it is certain that the very discussion of 
the entire question of Christian evidence is greatly dis- 
liked and avoided by the theologians of this school ; they 
are fond of alleging the seeming irreverence in its whole 
character and spirit. Involving as it does, as a first hypo- 
thesis, the pu.tting the inquirer, for the moment, into the 
position of a sceptic, the very process of such argument 
is objected to as unbecoming, and even perilous. It is 
conceived to imply a coldness, and a want of "loyalty" 
to the spritual authority of the Gospel, so much as to 
stop to entertain any question respecting it, or discus- 
sion of its truth; the very attitude of challenging evi- 
dence is one which bears a bold and hostile appearance, 
which can never be assumed by the humble and sub- 
missive votary of the church. 

They affect to turn away in a fastidious disgust from 
the subject of evidence, or perhaps really shrink from it 
in a correct perception of its inconsistency with their 
views. They regard faith as degraded by the very 
mention of proof: "As if," they indignantly exclaim, 
" evidence to the word of God were a thing to be tole- 
rated by a Christian, except as an additional condemna- 



* Dr. Pusey's Sermon, on 5th Nov., 1837, p. 3. 
t Tracts for the Times, No. 10, p. 4. 



TRADITION UNVEILED. 39 

tion for those who reject it, or as a sort of exercise and 
indulgence for a Christian understanding '^ ^ 

What are such ideas but the exact counterpart of 
those professed in a very opposite school? — in which 
it is a constant topic to urge that the ardent spirit of 
faith, offended by cold discussion, dispenses with the 
dry details of evidence; that our Lord's miracles were 
only adaptations to the prevailing superstitions of those 
to whom they were presented, and who thus stood pecu- 
liarly condemned in rejecting them; and that, in fact, 
he himself put them in this light, and assigned them 
but a very secondary importance. Or again, what is it 
but the favorite speculation of a party, the most de- 
nounced by the orthodox, to give a wide scope to the 
indulgence of a contemplative spirit, in tracing out the 
'' mythic" interpretation of miracles, (the narratives of 
which they contend were only designed for religious 
parables;) and to find extensive exercise for an enlight- 
ened understanding, in applying the resources of learn- 
ing and science to examine the philological ambiguities 
of the text, or to explain the apparent miracles as only 
extraordinary natural occurrences, cases of suspended 
animation, or of animal magnetism? Or, w^hile they 
are exoterically condemned, are those some of the esoteric 
doctrines into which only the privileged adepts in the 
school of tradition are admitted ? 

Thus, whichever alternative be adopted, whichever 
view of the subject be preferred, it cannot but equally 
appear, that all distinctive evidence is virtually lost, 
confounded, or rejected. And thus the traditionists in 
practice take the consistent course. They dismiss all 
difficulties and silence all objections at once, by pro- 
hibiting the use of reason on the subject. The disciple 

^ British Critic, No. 48, p. 304, 



40 TRADITION UNVEILED. 

is invited to take refuge from all perplexities in an unin- 
quiring acquiescence in oracular decrees; and is con- 
soled with the assurance that he v^ill ultimately feel 
complete satisfaction in the patient assiduous practice 
of dutiful submission to the ajjthority of the church. 
Thus he is infallibly secured from harassing doubts and 
unprofitable speculations, by discarding all positive 
views of evidence and truth. 

(24.) And the resulting influence of this system is of 
a corresponding character ; for it is even an avowed part 
and effect of it to leave its votaries in perpetual uncer- 
tainty, LEST this or that tenet or practice may not he a 
part of the apostolic institution, though not precisely 
recorded.* And that rve cannot he sure it is not so, is 
regarded as a substantial ground of faith ; and such a 
spirit is cherished as an indication of that reverential 
frame of mind which peculiarly harmonizes with the 
humility of a true disciple of the church. It envelopes 
in haziness the spiritual horizon, so that the votary is 
unable to distinguish the boundary between earth and 
heaven. He cannot tell how much is divine, how much 
human, in the religion he professes. A frame of mind 
which seems to me, in one sense, the very essence of 
superstition ; in another, betrays, to say the least, a sin- 
gular accordance with rationalism or scepticism. The 
effect of reducing that which is divine to the level of 
that which is human, is equally produced by exalting 
the human into divine. If the disciple find metaphors 
elevated into mysteries, he may interpret it as reducing 
mysteries into metaphors. When all notion of distinc- 
tive evidence is lost, and all positive characteristics dis- 



* For example, sec Fkoude\s Remains, p. 336; Newman's Letier to Faussef, 
vol. i. p. 43. 



TRADITION UNVEILED. 41 

carded, then the same vague and mystified language 
v^ill as v^ell apply to the one view of the subject as 
the other. The " reverent phraseology" of theological 
terms and scriptural epithets may as properly be used 
to clothe the expression of a mere philosophical and 
moral system or theory of religious impressions, divested 
of the peculiar evidence of divine interposition, as to 
describe the doctrines of an authoritative church which 
does not appeal to evidential conviction. 

(25.) But the total surrender of the judgment is even 
defended as a philosophical ground of assent. Authority 
is represented as really at the basis of all systems of 
instruction, even in science.^ If Christianity wxre a 
system of mere human doctrines, to be moulded and 
represented at the discretion of the teachers, then such 
a principle might apply as belonging to it in common 
with any moral system. And to these the Gospel will 
be exactly assimilated, when we go along with the tra- 
ditionists in keeping out of sight, and in fact discarding 
all tangible distinctive evidence. Such a system may, 
no doubt, possess eminent practical recommendations; 
and to understand its full efficacy, we are sent to the 
schools of ancient philosophy to learn the advantages 
of an institution under which the disciple, after a long 
course of assiduous preparation, (during which he is 
not allowed to exercise his own judgment,) is at length 
sufficiently imbued with the practical feeling of entire 
submission, and a reverential habit of mind, to be trusted 
to view the interior secrets of the doctrine. Thus pre- 
possessed, he will be best qualified for maintaining a 
steady unquestioning adherence to it. He will feel no 
difficulties, and be startled by no objections; he will see 

* See British Critic, No. 47, article on Plato, &,c. 

6 



4^ TRADITION UNVEILED. 

that it is wisest not to meddle with them, and hazardous 
to enter upon discussion. 

And applying these philosophical principles to the- 
ology, he learns that " an intellectual, a reasonable reli- 
gion, is a thing which nullifies itself."^- Orthodoxy, if 
exposed to the rude shock of argument and the tests of 
evidence, would fall. Rational investigation leads to 
socinianism and deism. To silence inquiry is the proper 
way to Christian belief Faith is a duty; the more 
meritorious in proportion to the objections felt and 
silenced. 

Under the illumination of this system, the ordinary 
views of the evidences of revelation may be regarded 
as among the errors of "popular Protestantism." The 
traxiitionist may avoid giving offence to established pre- 
judices, by translating the rationalistic views of miracles 
and inspiration into "reverent language;" and thus 
escape from the dry, repulsive, and unsatisfactory 
examination of the proofs of revelation. Or, dwelling 
upon some real or supposed resemblances and coinci- 
dences of the theories of heathen philosophy, the learned 
advocates of this system may represent them as antici- 
pations of the Gospel, and thus lead captive the minds 
of their classical disciples with the alluring visions of 
platonism, and so prepare them for a similar mystifica- 
tion of Christianity ; which may thus come, not unna- 
turally, to be placed on the same level. 

The disciple of this system may, in happy security, 
follow antiquity as the surest guide to revelation, and 
recognise the " divinity of tradition," even to the age 
of the deluge. t He may detect revelation scattered in 
paganism, and believe " Christianity as old as the crea- 



* See British Critic, No. 48, p. 348, 

t See British Critic, No. 48, notice of Mr. liareourt on the Deluge. 



TRADITION UNVEILED. 43 

tion," as it doubtless is, if it be a mere undefined feel- 
ing of devotional awe and religious veneration. He 
may, by some new powers of physical investigation, 
trace " the peculiarities of Christianity, written legibly 
in the hieroglyphics of the physical world:"* or, by 
some refined species of phlosophy, recognise animal 
magnetism as '' representing a metaphysical theory 
and intellectual facts precisely the counterpart of his 
own religious belief;"! which, for such a religious belief 
may doubtless be true. He may, in short, read Christi- 
anity anywhere except in the New Testament 

(26.) Yet even under this system, when the votary 
is called upon to submit his judgment to authority, is he 
not to satisfy himself in the first instance on what the 
claims of that authority rest? If he is exhorted to fol- 
low ''the old paths ^''^ is he not to inquire into their 
antiquity? If the Catholic traditions are to be kept, 
but not the Romish, is he not to judge which are Catho- 
lic and which Romish ? In short, at some stage is there 
not to be an appeal to conviction ? Though it be for- 
bidden to discuss the tenets inculcated, yet surely the 
disciple must, in the first instance, be satisfied of the 
commission of the teacher to inculcate them. Though 
private judgment is prohibited as to doctrines, is its use 
forbidden as to the evidences on which the Church 
grounds its claim ? Or does the Church go the length 
of asserting' 'absolute supremacy and infallibility, and 
thus urge a compulsory submission, without even a ques- 
tion as to its authority, and lift the sword of persecution 
as its sole evidence ?f This, indeed, would be but con- 

* Newman's Avians, p. 80, 89. British Critic, No. 48. p. 304, 

t Ihid., p. 313. 

t This seems to be the case. See Newman's Avians, p. 253. 



44 TRADITION UNVEILED. 

sistency, if its claim be followed out to its legitimate 
extent. Then, in fact, it would do no more than the 
Church of Rome has done ; and with perfect reason. 
A church really divine and infallible cannot condescend 
to any appeal to human conviction. To doubt its autho- 
rity is a sin; to call it in question is Uaspliemy. Such 
are the fair pretensions of the Romish church: and 
such were the real demands of a truly infallihle churchy 
having inherent divine power, viz., the Jewish, having 
the divine oracle sensibly present, and miraculous pow- 
ers, it commanded submission :* the heretic was to be 
cut off: the impugner stoned, and its authority was 
attested by our Lord if '' hear J the church," and let the 
rebel against it be as an heathen and publican. 

Thus, from the very nature of the case, it follows 
that the alternative can only be between rational evi- 
dence and absolute infallibility. If a man may judge 
for himself on one point, what can hinder him from 
judging on another? or all others? What porver shall 
drarv the line, without being itself amenahle to the same 
judgment? Private opinion must be allowed on all 
points, or prohibited on a/^ points; and if prohibited, it 
must be by force, not by reason : for that would be an 
appeal to reason. There can be no middle course be- 
tween the unlimited freedom of conviction and the dun- 
geon or the stake. 

The exercise of private judgment has been often 
asserted and contended for as a matter of right: but 
according to the view here taken, it rather must be 
viewed as a matter of necessity ;'—diS> the 07ily alternative, 
if we once recede from the absolute power of an infalli- 
ble, that is, divinely-inspired church. 

* Deut. xvii. 6; Numb. xxxv. 30. t Matt, xxiii. 2. X Matt. viii. 17. 



TRADITION UNVEILED. 45 

The upholders of tradition can claim nothing less 
than infallibility; for, without this, their pretensions 
and practice towards others would be monstrous, and 
their claims presumptuous, and even impious. 

(27.) Now, notwithstanding the magnitude of the 
evils already exposed as involved in the very principles 
of the system, yet it is this last consequence of authorita- 
tive tradition, — the maintenance of the principle* and 
spirit of persecution (inseparable from it), which, to my 
apprehension, constitutes the most objectionable and 
repulsive characteristic of this school, the worst and 
most noxious element of their system. 

When I look even at the direct tendency of their 
doctrine (before pointed out) to reduce all definite belief 
into a mystified view of '^ the whole Bible as one great 
parable,"! to disparage the evidence of miracles, and 
allow entire scepticism under the disguise of formal or- 
thodoxy, though feeling bound to use my endeavours 
to expose what appear to me such dangerous errors, in 
the way of fair argument, still I should be the last to 
deny the entire right of the parties to adopt these 
opinions. Still more, when I look at their peculiar 
viervs of Christian doctrine, at their theory of an inhe- 
rent divine constitution in the Church, at their entire 
system of transmitted powers for the efiicacious admin- 
istration of the sacraments, — at their affectation of a sin- 
gular rigour in ecclesiastical observances and devotional 
exercises; — all this I regard with entire complacency, 
though I think them erroneous; for acting up to all this 
in their orvn practice, I respect them as far as they are 
sincere; — and, at all events, recognise their entire 



* Newman's Sermons, vol. iii. p. 193 — 197. 
t Sewell on Subscription, p. 24. 



46 TRADITION UNVEILED. 

right to uphold their views and observances among 
themselves. 

But v^hen I find them (as they consistently must do) 
putting forth an exclusive claim themselves to constitute 
'^the Church,^ ^ assuming a lofty tone of superiority, and 
condemning as heretics those v^ho differ from them ; — 
affecting the character of infallibility, — assuming the 
seat of judgment over their brethren, and as far as they 
have the power, following out their sentence to actual 
persecution, if not by personal infliction, yet by invading 
rights and reputations,"^ then the subject assumes a dif- 
ferent aspect: then the system appears invested with a 
most reprehensible character, and stands most strongly 
condemned in its own consequences; and still more so, 
when I cannot help tracing, in sufficiently legible cha- 
racters, (which it has been the object of the foregoing 
remarks to exhibit,) what is the actual nature and ten- 
dency of those views of Christian evidence and doctrine 
which they affect so scrupulously to '' wrap up in reve- 
rent language," and to guard from the spirit of scruti- 
nizing inquiry by which they are wounded and lace- 
rated. 

(28.) This system of concealment and ''reserve in 
teaching," is, in fact, intimately connected with their 
claims to be the depositaries of an apostolic trust, the 
secret of the true doctrine, handed down to the Church. 
And it is at once curious and instructive to notice the 
manner in which this claim is supported. As in other 
instances which we have had occasion to notice, no- 

* It may here be supposed I am alluding to tho "persecution" of Dr. Hampden, 
and it may be alleged that it is, at at any rate, unfair to refer to what is now past 
and ended. I will merely observe, it is not past and ended. The persecution rages 
at this moment as furiously as ever : and it will continue to do so, as long as the 
enactment of 1836 is allowed to remain disgracing the Statute Book of the Uni- 
versity. 



TRADITION UxWEILED. 47 

thing can be more just, rational, or moderate, than the 
general exposition which they give of Jirst principles 
and primary facts. 

We may take for example the following passages 
from the work of one of the most acute and learned of 
the leaders of this school, already referred to. 

''Since everlasting and unchangeable quiescence is 
the simplest and truest notion we can obtain of the 
Deity, it seems to follow that, strictly speaking, all 
those so called economies, or dispensations, which dis- 
play his character in action, are but condescensions to 
the infirmity and peculiarity of our minds, — shadowy 
representations of realities which are incomprehensible 
to creatures such as ourselves."* 

This view of the "economies" or dispensations, led 
to the mode of teaching, called ''economical," by the 
early Fathers, who "endeavoured to connect their own 
creed with that of those they addressed, whether Jewish 
or Pagan, adopting their sentiments, and even language, 
as far as they lawfully could."! And this is traced to 
the adoption of the same principle in the teaching of 
the apostles. The "economy" is certainly sanctioned 
by St. Paul, in his own conduct. "To the Jews he 
became as a Jew, and as without law to the heathen :"J 
And again, " Our blessed Lord's conduct on earth 
abounds with the like gracious and considerate conde- 
scension to the weakness of his creatures. "§ 

On these grounds the author proceeds to trace the 
system of primitive doctrine which it is his special 
object to uphold and enforce as the true faith of the 
Church at the present day. 

If we look at these principles in themselves^ nothings 
it appears to me, can be more sound or just, — nothing 

* Newman's Arians, p. 82, t Ibid, p. 99, t Ibid, p, 72. § Ibid. p. 85, 



48 TRADITION UNVEILED. 

more important, when deeply considered, and judi- 
ciously applied to the interpretation of the sacred text, 
— nothing more extensively useful in enabling the 
student to obtain a rational grasp of the tenour and 
drift of the different discourses and writings both of 
the Apostles and their Divine Master, and for following 
out, in a clear and luminous exposition, the gradual 
process of the disclosure of the Gospel, in its real nature 
and practical simplicity, throughout its several steps, 
up to the concluding period when the canon of inspi- 
ration was finally closed. 

Further; it is readily admitted, that the apostles in 
their writings refer to oral instructions given to their 
converts; and in some instances, (on which much stress 
has been laid,) use particular expressions, which cer- 
tainly may be interpreted to refer to some formularies, 
or particular institutions, committed to the individual 
disciples. Such, for example, are the ''form of sound 
words," ^vTio-tvTii^Gii v-^io.wov'ii^v \oy<^v~\ tlio ''good thing which 
was committed" to Timothy,* [_7tapaxata97jx'yj'] and ''the 
traditions" which the Thessalonians had been taught,! 
of which (supposing this interpretation allowed,) all we 
can say is, that they have not been preserved to us. 

(29.) That the Apostles really concealed, disguised, 
or in any way compromised the whole and simple 
truth, "the whole counsel of God" which they "de- 
clared," is directly contradicted by their own words, J 
as well as the manifest object of their mission, as fully 
characterized and set forth in their writings. That in 
the modej and form, and language, in which they pro- 
pounded their doctrine, they entirely adapted themselves 



* 2 Tim. i. 13, 14. f 2 Thess. ii. 15. On this point .see Mr. Keble's 

Visitation Sermon, t e.g.:— Acts xx, 20—27; Col. i. 25—28. 



TRADITION UNVEILED. 49 

to those whom they addressed, is manifest as z, fact, 
most important to the interpretation of their writings; 
and is every way most worthy of the divine goodness 
and wisdom by which they were guided. This, how- 
ever, was soon construed into systematic reserve and 
artful compromise, and made the plea which authorized 
the successors of the Apostles to practise such conceal- 
ments and accommodations of the truth at their own 
discretion. Those who early acquired the exclusive 
name and authority of ''the Church," held possession 
of that sacred and secret deposit which the Apostles 
had bequeathed, in obvious security from refutation. 
To ''the Church" it was intrusted, to be kept in reserve, 
and brought out only when circumstances especially 
required it. The precise dogmas of the orthodox faith 
were confessedly not to be read in the Apostles' wri- 
tings, but really lay hid in their silence. Thus, by 
virtue of this celebrated "Disciplina Arcani,"* the 
tenets of any who ventured to oppose them were 
unanswerably proved heretical, and the Catholic faith 
was found to possess a more and more precise and 
metaphysical form. They had the power in their own 
hands; and with an ascendency and a majority, it was 
easy by arts and practices, obvious even to men less 
skilled in the knowledge of human nature and the 
means of influencing it, to maintain that ascendency, 
and advance it even to an exclusive dominion. In 
further aid of such designs, and exact consistency with 
this principle, the practice of pious frauds was exten- 
sively and even avowedly pursued. When employed 
in so holy a cause, the advocate of truth was justified, 
(according to St. Clement of Alexandria,) "as a physi- 
cian for the good of his patients, in being false, or 

* Sec Infrod. 1o Dr.. Hampden's Bnnipfon Lcrluvp., p. 19-, 



50 TRADITION UNVEILED. 

■attering a falsehood, as the Sophists say."* Above 
all, the grand principle of the possession of a traditional 
secret doctrine, to be disclosed only when wrung from 
them by the necessity of the case, and the corruptions 
of the faith by heretics, united with the claim of abso- 
lute authority to decide infallibly rvhat rvas heresy ; (a 
part and consequence of it;) soon led to the erection of 
the vast fabric of spiritual despotism, whose unrelenting 
persecution,! even to extermination, of all whom it 
decreed to be heretics,- coupled with the destruction of 
all heretical hoohs, % has transmitted to the present times 
the fame of ''the Fathers" and the purity of "the Pri- 
mitive Church," enveloped in a glory of orthodoxy and 
sanctity which it has become profaneness to call in 
question, or disparage. 

(30.) We need not look far to trace the causes which 
led to this state of things. The powerful bias of human 
nature towards a religion of infallible pretensions, a 
faith consisting in a mere assent to creeds, a worship 
of forms, and a service of external observances, of times 
and seasons, of "days and months and years," § — the 
proneness to a superstitious reliance on the performance 
of the ceremony rather than on the spiritual influence, 
— to sanctimonious devotion rather than to moral purity, 
— acting upon the natural love of power and the dispo- 
sition to arrogate authority, and, in turn, reacted upon 
by the institutions thus gradually enforced, would alone 
be sufficient, in the lapse of a very short time, to frame 



* Quoted in Newman's Avians, p. 81. 

t See EusEBius, Vit. Const., ii. 63. 

f On this point the reader is referred to Beausobre's Hist, dc Manicheisme. 
The burning of books was particularly enjoined by the law of Arcadius, Lex 36, 
De Hceret. 

§ Gal. iv. 10. 



TRADITION UNVEILED. 51 

dogmatic systems out of the most simple religious in- 
struction ;— to erect a fabric of authority and infalli- 
bility out of the spiritual offices of Christian teachers; 
and to invest with an essential and permanent character, 
institutions originally but of a temporary and incidental 
nature. 

It is in this superstitious spirit, so congenial to human 
nature, that the multitude of ceremonial observances 
and austerities have taken their rise, from the earliest 
ages. The Christian Church had but to follow the 
course indicated by the propensities of human infirmity, 
and its ordinances, however onerous or rigid, would be 
sure to find multitudes of devoted followers. In the 
text of the New Testament, it is allowed on all hands, 
we find no injunctions of this kind. The practices 
observed by the Jewish converts, whether as part of 
their law, or on other established authority, were 
allowed, continued, and even conformed to, guarding 
only against their abuse, by our Lord* and his Apos- 
tles :t thus, as adaptationsX to the condition of the 
converts, the distinctions of meats, § and of days,|| the 
observance of the sabbath, J and of fasting, IT w^ere per- 
mitted and upheld. But Christianity, as such, not only 
enjoined nothing of the kind, but in the Apostles' 
writings such ordinances were positively set aside. ** 
In the earliest age, however, we find practices, the 
very same in spirit introduced. Nothing, indeed, was 
more easy or natural than the transition to a system 
recognising and sanctioning them, as soon as the Chris- 
tian communities began to acquire a settled constitution. 
Many such practices crept in from the earliest times, 
and, by imperceptible degrees, acquired a character of 
sanctity. Thus, fasting and penances became merito- 

* Matt. V. 17. t Gal. ii. 14. \ Mark ii. 27. § Rom. xiv. 3. || lb. 5. 
IT Matt vi. 16, ** Col. ii. 16, Rom. xiv. 17, and 1 Tim. iv. 8, &c. 



53 TRADITION UNVEILED. 

rious; and, though with the actual observance of the 
sabbath by the Jewish converts before their eyes, they 
could not fall into the modern error of confounding it 
with the Lord's day; yet this commemorative festival 
was by degrees invested with a sort of holiness, in 
common with other days observed in celebration of the 
events of our Lord's life, and of the Apostles and 
eminent saints; together with seasons of abstinence and 
humiliation. 

In the text of the New Testament, it is admitted, we 
nowhere find an exclusive commission to administer the 
sacraments, nor to perpetuate an order of ministers. 
But out of the simple institutions of Christ, his general 
promises of perpetual aid to his church, the peculiar 
powers conferred on his apostles, and some incidental 
regulations in the communities established by them, 
there was gradually erected a superstructure of a far 
different character. The more exalted doctrines of 
sacramental efficacy, of absolution, and of excommuni- 
cation, were hardly separable from the claim to the 
exclusive commission of apostolic ordination to admi- 
nister them, and to a continuation of the apostolic 
powers in the episcopal hierarchy. All these soon 
became (from obvious causes,) integral parts of the 
constitution of the church : and (by the aid of the disci- 
plina arcani,) soon enjoyed the sanction of primitive 
tradition. This it vv^as which fixed the first link in the 
chain of the much-boasted apostolic succession : a point 
important to be noticed, since the attention of disputants 
on both sides has been usually confined to the very 
subordinate object of tracing the subsequent links, which 
is a mere question of history. 

(31.) Such are the principles and practices which 
distinguished orthodoxy of old; such the character of 



TRADITION UNVEILED. 53 

ecclesiastical pretensions. And these are what are now 
attempted to be revived. But, further, it is peculiarly 
deserving of observation that the advocates of this sys- 
tem profess to put it forward, and urge it on public 
SiiteTitioiii with peculiar reference to the state of the pre- 
sent times, and the advance of intellectual illumination. 
They are fond of referring to the scientific character 
of the age, and to the dispositions thus cherished they 
contend that their religious system is most peculiarly 
applicable. 

Let the reader listen with due reverence to the fol- 
lowing manifesto of ''the Church," from its ofS.cial 
organ: — "The age is all light: therefore the church 
is bound to be, — we will not say dark, for that is an 
ill-omened, forbidding word, — but we will say deep, 
impenetrable, occult in her views and character. Nay, 
we will not object to a certain measure of light, so that 
it be of the dim and awful kind. . . . But some- 
thing of this kind we must have ... a retreat 
from our too much light ... a Church which 
protects herself from the powerful and noxious glare 
which settles upon her from without."* . . . "We 
are now assailed by science, and we must protect our- 
selves by mystery." . . . "Mystery fits in with 
this age exactly; it suits it; it is just what the age 

wants."! 

This preposterous declaration can hardly, at first 
sight, appear otherwise than either (in one sense,) a 
singular and unexpected confession; a direct acknow- 
ledgment of the weakness of the cause ; or (in another 
sense,) it might be set down as the mere impotent bra- 
vado of bigotry in its dotage. Yet on closer examination 
we shall find these notions chime in so w^ell with some 

* British Critic, No. 48, p. 395. t Ibid. p. .397. 



54 TRADITION UNVEILED. 

most prevalent viev^s of religion, as to render their 
realization by no means chimerical, and if realized, 
destructive to all sound and rational belief. 

For, let it only be observed, that there is no subject 
on which the generality (even of educated and reasoning 
persons,) are less given to reason than on religion. 
Hence the prevalent disposition (even among those 
who think deeply, and are perhaps profoundly engaged 
in philosophical investigations on other subjects,) is to 
avoid all such examination of religious matters; — to 
adopt nominally the established creed, without ques- 
tion ; to dismiss all particular distinctions from their 
thoughts : or, if questioned, to recur to mystery, and 
repose in the incomprehensibility of the doctrine; — 
maintaining this, too, as in itself the most effectual and 
legitimate means of cherishing a due and becoming 
sentiment of religion. And all this grounded upon 
and vindicated by the favourite and fashionable idea, 
so grateful to human nature, that '' religion is altogether 
a mere matter of feeling." 

Hence we readily see by what powerful support the 
advocates of Church authority must feel that their 
claims are backed. What are these prevalent disposi- 
tions and sentiments, but the very echo to their de- 
mands? What are these notions but the very coun- 
terpart of a system which shuts out reason with mys- 
tery, and appeals only to the vague emotion of faith 
and reverential devotion ? And when we find a party 
rising up within the very bosom of the Church and the 
Universities, and even arrogating to itself the exclusive 
title of " the Church," proclaiming aloud the dissociation 
of religion and reason, of Christianity and its evidences; 
avowing the uncongeniality of light, and flying to shelter 
itself in obscurity, and even pretending to address itself 
to the spirit of the present age, in this tone, — will it 



TRADITION UNVEILED. 55 

appear extraordinary, if the result more than fulfils the 
expectations? Shall we be surprised that the spirit of 
the present age catches up the note, and responds with 
augmented testimony, to the inconsistency of religion 
with knowledge, the incompatibility of Christianity 
with intellectual advancement. 

The professing Christian world, the nominal adhe- 
rents to established forms, may " better the instruction," 
which is thus vouchsafed. If the Church deprecate 
inquiry, the worldly disciple may, in perfect consistency 
with a professed adherence to that Church, satisfy him- 
self that Christianity cannot really stand inquiry. If 
the Church prohibit evidence, the disciple may indulge 
in scepticism, in implicit obedience to its mandate. 
Enlightened by the mystical traditional theories, if he 
find ordinary events made into miracles, he may regard 
miracles as ordinary events ; if everything is miraculous, 
nothing is : — if he be taught that the Church is as much 
inspired as the Bible, he may interpret it that the Bible 
is as little inspired as the Church : and all this without 
any violation of his professions. And if '' the Church" 
affect to suit the wants of the present age by the as- 
sumption of mystery, assuredly it will only be by pro- 
viding it the more convenient and decent cloak to cover 
total unbelief and confirmed irreligion. 

(32.) Here also I may stop to make one further remark, 
suggested by the passage last quoted, but in fact equally 
called forth by the common tenour* of the language 
held by the traditionists when they refer to the advance 
of modern science ; viz., their expressed hostility to it, 
and complaints that their system is ''assailed" by it. 

* For further illustration see the context of the passage last quoted. 



56 TRADITION UNVEILED. 

This is, in fact, a charge, the justice, or even meaning, 
of which, I am at a loss to comprehend. How any 
point of science comes into collision with the peculiar 
system of church authority, I do not see. Nor in the 
general spirit and temper of the scientific world in mat- 
ters of religion, I am persuaded, can anything be found 
of a character peculiarly hostile to the traditional views. 
On the contrary, I am disposed to believe, that if there 
be any special tendency in scientific pursuits, as such, 
to influence the religious opinions of those who follow 
them, among the great body of scientific men, it is, for 
the most part, precisely that to which I before referred : 
— a disposition rather to avoid engaging in theological 
speculation, and reverentially to acquiesce in the estab- 
lished faith : the very spirit which the traditionists desire 
to cherish. Whilst I would venture to express my be- 
lief, that among the most eminently distinguished phi- 
losophers of the present day in this country, there exists 
even a profoundly religious spirit ; though certainly un- 
accompanied by any particular display of hostility 
towards the traditionists. 

There is indeed one point, and one only, which in the 
existing state of science, and of religious knowledge, has 
been rendered prominent, and may be regarded under a 
hostile aspect. I allude (as may be anticipated) to the 
contradictions which the investigations of geology have 
brought to light : — contradictions between what we find 
to be the actual order in which the slow, gradual, and 
uninterrupted process of the formation of the crust of 
the earth, with its organized productions, has taken 
place ; and the representations given of one sudden and 
universal creation at a comparatively recent period in 
the Scriptures of the Old Testament. The precise na- 
ture and evidence of this discrepency, it is unnecessary 



TRADITION UNVEILED. 57 

here to enter upon, as I have fully stated and discussed 
it in a former v^ork.* 

But in reference to this point, I do not see that it 
affords any ground for the complaint above referred to, 
as if, in this respect, '^ the Church" were '' assailed by 
science." The contradiction is, indeed, one of a very 
marked and peculiar kind, and one v^hich appears to 
me most important to be dwelt upon, and carefully and 
honestly scrutinized ; — as peculiarly tending to call forth 
a deeper consideration and more just view of the real 
grounds on which Christianity rests, than, unhappily, 
is too commonly prevalent. 

The direct consequences of the unquestionable estab- 
lishment of this remarkable discrepancy (as I have 
shown at large in the place already referred to) may 
indeed be justly regarded as opposing fatal objections 
to the views of those who build their religion upon the 
literal application of the Old Testament, and adopt the 
obligation of the Sabbath, whether as derived from Gen- 
esis, or from the Decalogue. But this is a doctrine which 
I believe has little in common with that of the tradition- 
ists. ^^ The Church," that is, the advocates of church 
authority, are surely the last who can consider their 
system endangered. Nay, even (with their acknow- 
ledged acuteness) it is surprising they do not, as they 
clearly might, turn this topic to account, in favour of 
their cause, as only evincing more clearly the unassail- 
able independence of their principles. For tradition, 
reposing on its own authority, can w^ell afford to dis- 
pense with 'that of Scripture, on any point : but more 
especially on one so totally unconnected with the pecu- 
liar tenets of 'Hhe Church," as the representation of 



* The Connexion of Natural and Divine Truth, &c. Londorij J. W. Parker? 
1838o See especially Section iv. p. 253, &c., and Notes, 



68 TRADITION UNVEILED. 

the creation, either in Genesis or the Decalogue, and 
the sabbatical institutions of the older dispensations 
grounded upon it. 



CONCLUSION. 

(33.) What has been here advanced may, perhapSy 
suffice to exhibit the real tendency of the principles of 
the traditional school, v^hen divested of those extraneous 
considerations to v^hich we are naturally most led at 
first sight, from the external and apparent character of 
its pretensions, which undoubtedly bear a considerable 
resemblance to those of Romanism. But these outward 
manifestations are found really to cover principles of 
deeper import, with which they might seem little con- 
nected, and which are essentially mixed up with the 
very elements of religious truth. 

Faith, being reduced to an act of obedience, loses all 
connexion with real conviction ; all test of distinct evi- 
dence being abandoned, and all appeal to reason dis- 
carded, the only substitute is a mere vague feeling, or 
sentiment, common to all religions, true or false. 

Truth implies conviction, and conviction evidence : a 
mere impression on the feelings or imagination requires 
neither. A faith founded on conviction and evidence 
claims the character of truth, a religion of mere reve- 
rence and submission owns no connexion with truth. 
A system which discards evidence, puts truth and fable 
on the same level. That which is treated as if it were 
fiction, will soon come to be regarded as such : that 
which has no better warrant than an appeal to venera- 
tion and antiquity, is undistinguishable from fiction. 
The real question is not one of the revival of 
Popery, hut of the preservation of the very foun- 



TRADITION UNVEILED. 59 

DATioNs OF Faith : whether religion shall be made to 
depend on the indulgence of feeling or the conviction 
of reason : whether belief shall be founded in prejudice 
or evidence : whether Christianity is based on fable or 
fact, on antiquity or truth. 

To a simple believer in the written word of the New 
Testament, the system of tradition can appear in no other 
light than as invohing in entire ambiguity the landmarks 
of Christian truth. It does away, by rendering confused, 
all distinctive characteristics of a definite depository, and 
finally closed record of revelation. By neutralizing, it 
destroys the whole evidence of the Gospel. 

The plainest understanding feels the necessity for 
such evidences; yet in contending for this it is by no 
means intended that a real faith cannot subsist without 
a strict logical appreciation of the whole compass of 
these arguments. To insist on this would, of course, 
be to exclude the great mass of believers. Christianity, 
however, stands secure in the multiplicity of its evi- 
dences; and these adapted to every species and every 
grade of intellect and capacity. And that it does so is 
not among the least of the proofs of its divine origin. 
Each individual mind may find its difficulties in one 
class of proofs, but will fasten on some other, fully con- 
vincing to itself The evidence to the ignorant, though 
not the same, is equally strong, as to the learned. But 
in every case it can be brought home to the conviction 
only by an honest use of the reasoning powers, accord- 
ing to the best of the ability given to each. 

(34.) I have referred to such views of the evidences 
of Christianity as have been upheld by eminent divines, 
and are at least intelligible and satisfactory to the gene- 
rality of believers. 

But even if we make ample allowance for all the dif- 



60 TRADITION UNVEILED. 

ficulties of the subject, and admit that arguments of this 
nature may have been pushed to too precise an applica- 
tion, or too exclusively insisted on by some writers, at 
all events a reasonable belief requires that there should 
be somewhere found a broad and unambiguous line of 
separation between that which is revelation and that 
which is not; some distinct authentication of the de- 
pository of inspired communications and divine truth. 

This is the essential point in. all discussion of the evi- 
dence of the New Testament: and to this point the 
learning and talents of the most eminent critics and 
divines of successive ages have been worthily dedicated. 
Their continued researches have fully confirmed, and 
brought home to the present age, the force of that evi- 
dence which enabled contemporaries to draw a distinct 
line, defining the canon of the New Testament. 

This is to us the all-important point; and it is especi- 
ally to be observed that this depends on no sentence or 
tradition of "the Church,"* either as independently 
divine, or, still less, as resting its claims on Scripture ; 
that is, sanctioning its own authority, and a judge in its 
own cause ; but essentially on mere human and fallible 
testimony y supported by the broad fact, that the writings 
of the New Testament were attached by the earliest 
enemies of Christianity as being its authentic charter ; 
and, still more, in the important circumstance that, 
within the pale of the profession of Christianity, these 
books were appealed to by those who were branded 
as "heretics," by the self-styled "orthodox," in their 
controversies ; and either party charged the other with 
being unscriptural, and thought their case made out if 
they could substantiate the charge. 

* The reader will find this point most ably and fully discussed in Dr. Shuttle- 
worth's work on Tradition, p. 81, et seq. See also Palkx's Evidences, Part I. 
chap. ix. sect. 7. 



TRADITION UNVEILED. 61 

The essential object has thus been to preserve a well- 
marked boundary of the depository of the Christian 
Word in authentic written records. The bare suspicion 
of any other remnant of truth possessing the same au- 
thority^ lurking in the words or institutions of any men 
or of any age, would be directly destructive to this ob- 
ject. For the preservation of the truth, no oral tradi- 
tion could or did suffice. The best and most faithful 
of human stewards could not have preserved the sacred 
deposit absolutely pure and uncorrupt, much less the 
weak, and credulous, or ambitious, and unscrupulous 
men, who too generally obtained the ascendency in the 
first ages. Outward institutions and forms could not 
serve as monuments of the primitive religion, as being 
perpetually liable to receive corrupt additions. 

Of this enough has been shown in what was observed 
before. Against all such corruptions in faith or practice, 
the only resource can be found in the recurrence to a 
determinate written record alone authentic and authori- 
tative. With the evidences of its authority before us, it 
is for human reason, with the resources of human learn- 
ing, to discriminate and decide upon these evidences, 
and to ascertain the claim to a divine character in the 
written word, peculiar and incommunicable. Different 
as the case may have been in the apostolic age, at the 
present day nothing has preserved the same marks of 
authenticity as these sacred records. Further, the same 
authority has not been continued in any collateral chan- 
nel to give an authoritative interpretation of their con- 
tents. This, therefore, can only be left to human judg- 
ment and individual opinion, diligently and humbly exer- 
cised, and availing itself of all attainable means and aids. 

(35.) Nor will this be in the least incompatible with 
a general deference to the authority (confessedly unin- 



62 TRADITION UNVEILED. 

spired,) of duly-constituted teachers, and the opinions 
of learned men.* But this is a totally different case 
from that we have been examining. A man reasons 
fairly in adopting such guidance, and may conscien- 
tiously trust to such a ground of assent, provided it be 
not taken up in culpable indifference or wilful negli- 
gence, nor unduly venerated and idolatrously relied 
upon, as if divine. 

And further, this is no way opposed to the legitimate 
use of creeds and formularies, distinctly regarded as 
mere human synopses and fallible expositions, and sub- 
ject always to a reference to the written word alone, for 
their interpretation and warrant. They must, I con- 
ceive, find their chief recommendation not in their an- 
tiquity, but in their utility ; their claim to acceptance, 
not from their origin in past ages, but their adaptation 
to the wants of the present : and they ought always to 
be open to modification by competent authority, to dis- 
use or renewal as circumstances may require. Nor, 
again, will all this be any disparagement to the obser- 
vance of forms and ordinances of divine worship, on the 
undeniable and apostolic plea of decency, order, and 
edification : nor the recognition of an established minis- 
try and hierarchy, adorned with rank or endowed with 
wealth, if the state may think it desirable : but pretend- 
ing to no power to lay down authoritatively what is 
divine truth, or to exercise spiritual functions beyond 
the sanction of the written word. 

(36.) The powerful tendency of human nature to re- 
pose in a nominal orthodoxy and conformity, — to merge 
all religious reflection in silent, uninquiring assent and 
acquiescence in authoritative dogmas, on the plea that 

* See Provost of Oriel's Sermon on Private Judgment, p. 22. 



TRADITION UNVEILED. 63 

the subject is, in its nature, above the grasp of the human 
faculties, — habitually withdrawing the thoughts from 
it, and even claiming a certain merit in doing so : — 
The dislike of thought and inquiry, the desire of repo- 
sing on an infallible authority : — The proneness of men 
to rely on a strict adherence in profession, and at least 
a certain scrupulous show of conformity in practice, to 
external observances, as a ready mode of compounding 
for a worldly mind, and a careless, if not vicious life : — 
particularly the notion of keeping certain days holy to 
compensate for weeks of unholy, or at least worldly life. 
These are the elements of that fallacious and degrading 
kind of religion, so grateful to the weakness and blind- 
ness of the human heart. And in its prevalence a sys- 
tem like that we are considering finds its main strength : 
in such a soil it flourishes ; and finds ready acceptance 
among the many, who are quite incompetent to examine 
or apprehend its higher principles. 

As to the importance attached to the more precise 
ordinances and rigorous exercises, I shall merely observe, 
there has been always a strange propensity to concede 
to asceticism a reputation of peculiar sanctity, which is 
extremely delusive. Self-torment is very compatible 
with want of self-government ; exercises imposed on the 
body with want of command over the mind. While all 
such observances have a direct tendency to nourish 
spiritual pride ; in a Christian point of view, austerities 
are nowhere enjoined in the Gospel : at best, then, they 
are like Saul's oflering,* or Martha's service. f Without 
presuming to judge those who follow such practices, we 
may fairly require of them not to judge us if we do not. 

The dubious twilight of mystical devotion, and the 
vague apprehension of unrevealed mysteries, surely can- 

* 1 Sam. xiii. 12; xv. 22. t Luke x. 4L 



64 TRADITION UNVEILED. 

not but seem greatly at variance v^ith the very nature 
of Christianity, to those who regard it as fully and finally 
disclosed in the written word. If it be a plain announce- 
ment of the way of salvation, as such it must stand out 
alone, and apart from all doubtful speculations. If it be 
viewed as a simple declaration of necessary practical 
truths, addressed to the apprehension and convictions of 
all, according to the light given them, to however small 
an extent the truth is made known, it is, so far, distinctly 
made known. It may present but a limited region to 
the view : but that view, as far as it does extend, is clear 
and cloudless. All beyond it is, and must be, enveloped 
in impenetrable darkness. But that which is disclosed 
is perspicuous and undisguised : and with this alone it 
is that we are concerned ; with what may be hidden from 
us we have nothing to do. Religion to us exists only so 
far as it is clearly revealed; the acknowledgment of this 
upon its proper evidence is faith ; the suspicion that there 
may he something beyond, with which we are yet con- 
cerned, is the spirit of mysticism. 

To follow steadfastly what we are assured is the truth, 
and to shun as carefully what we hnorv to be sinful, is 
rational religion : — to grope after what we imagine may 
he acceptable, and to tremble in the dark lest every step 
should he wrong, is superstition. 

And further, if all the complex system of authority be 
essential to the orthodox faith, may it not well be ob- 
jected. Is this like anything which can claim the appel- 
lation of the Gospel of Christ ? or be received by the 
simple believer as a charter of grace and immortality ? 
May it not be reasonably objected. In such uncertainty 
can there be discovered any positive announcement of 
the divine will ? in such perplexity any sure guide to 
revealed truth ? in such mysterious obscurity anything 
which can be called a divine revelation at all ? 



TRADITION UNVEIIiED. €)§ 

(37.) In the writings of the New Testament we admit 
the absence of any precise literal code of doctrines or 
duties ; yet we find the real elements of both : not indeed 
creeds, but comprehensive truths ; not systematic laws, 
but practical principles and motives. There is manifest, 
throughout, a plea of truth, and an appeal to evidence, 
and consequently an appeal to the convictions of all 
readers ; and no authority can force conviction ; in its 
iiature, it must be free, or it ceases to be conviction. 
Thus, though there neither is, nor can be, consistently 
with the New Testament, any authority to decide what 
is true doctrine, and what is heresy, or to claim spiritual 
dominion over others, yet, as all real faith is grounded 
on conviction, there does, and must, exist in every man, 
fallible as he is, such a power to determine the truth 
for himself; not merely as a right, but as a duty ; not 
merely as a privilege, but as an obligation.* His own 
conscientious conviction, imperfect as it may be, hvii free 
as it must be, exercised according to the best of the 
ability given him, whether great or small, thus becomes 
sacred to him. It is that by which he must be guided 
in the most intimate connexion with his own personal 
responsibility : not a responsibility (as has been unintel- 
ligibly contended,) of the understanding; but of the rvill, 
to preserve the honest use of the understanding. And 
if the inevitable varieties of private judgment be objected, 
as inconsistent with the unity and in variableness of truth, 
— I reply, — truth is indeed one and invariable, but it not 
only may, but must, be seen under different aspects, and 
with different degrees of clearness by different minds. 
To each it is realised, as far as the nature of the case 
permits, if he seek and receive it honestly to the hest of 



* Sec the Provost of Oriel's Sermon on Frivalc Judgment, especially p. 17, 
i&c., and Jordan's Reply to Fausset, p. 16. 

9 



66 TRADITION UNVEILED. 

his ability ;* not resting satisfied in any attainment,! 
but continually striving to advance and improve. The 
measure of that ability, and the light vouchsafed, may 
be more or less. Christianity looks only to an improve- 
ment pi'oportionalX to the means granted ; a constantly 
progressive advance.^ It assures the disciple that in- 
crease of grace and light will always be given, if pro- 
perly sought, II — that every one has enough given him 
to profit by, — ^to judge for himself, but not to judge 
others.^ 



* 2 Cor. viii. 12. t Phil. iii. 13. Heb. vi. 1. t Matt. xxv. 14. 

§ 2 Peter iii. 18. U John vii. 17. James i. 5. T Phil. ii. 3, 12, 14. 



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